Mind Terror
by PixelbackWriter
Summary: The Doctor and Rose come to Kasafraxis Minor to check out the Greatest Show in the Galaxy. But an old enemy has other plans for the pair. Tenth Doctor, taking place just after New Earth.


Rose stepped out of the TARDIS and looked around. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the bright contrast from the dark interior of the time machine. Once they did, she was treated to an unusual sight. She was standing on a beach, looking out over a beautiful, deep-green sea that stretched to the horizon. The sky of this world was a much lighter shade of green. In the distance, she could make out the half-moon shape of the large gas giant that they were in orbit around.

"Kasafraxis Minor," The Doctor said, matter-of-factly, as he walked up beside Rose, hands placed in his pants pockets.

"Nice place," Rose replied, with a smirk.

The Doctor ran his fingers through his dark, disheveled hair. He hadn't quite gotten used to that, yet. His previous incarnation had been decidingly lacking in the head-top tuft department. It felt kind of nice, though. He flashed back to days, so long ago, when a young Sarah Jane Smith had referred to him as "all teeth and curls". _I wonder where I put that scarf…_

"The third moon of Sibraxis, in the galaxy S32M, Intergalactic year 43,078. It's the Sibraxian year of the galloping Snoflex." The Doctor stared off into the distance, as if the information he had just imparted to Rose was little more than common knowledge.

"Galloping Snoflex?"

"Oh, yes," the Timelord snapped out of his trance-like state. "The galloping Snoflex is considered one of the fiercest creatures on Sibraxis. The years of the galloping Snoflex are considered some of the most important in the history of the planet. Why, in the year 23,076, the Sibraxian High Court made a landmark decision when…"

"That's okay, Doctor," Rose interrupted, placing her hand on his shoulder "I'll take your word for it."

"Fine," The Doctor harrumphed in mock-disappointment.

Rose walked closer to the surging ocean, watching it flow across the sand.

"So, why are we here again?"

The Doctor looked around, as if he had lost something.

"Umm, well…" He fumbled through his coat pockets.

"Aha! Here it is." He finally produced a wrinkled piece of paper that had been hastily folded in four. He opened it up and showed it to Rose. "_This_ is why we're here." He pointed to the large writing at the top of the page. Rose could tell that it was alien writing, but her connection with the TARDIS allowed her to read it as if it was plain English.

"'Come see the greatest show in the 12 galaxies,'" Rose read aloud. "'Feats to astound, sights to confound.' We've come all this way to see an intergalactic Barnum and Bailey's show?" She was less than impressed.

The Doctor shot Rose a look of disbelief. "Intergalactic Barnum and… this show is the most popular entertainment in the known universe. Well, except for _Coronation Street_, but that's to be expected." The Doctor bent down and peered into Rose's eyes. "Aren't you the least bit curious about it?"

Rose didn't hesitate. "No, not in the least."

"But, it's the circus! Everybody likes the circus," the Doctor's smile brightened at the thought.

"Well, not everybody," Rose replied, trying to hide the growing sense of fright in her eyes. She turned from The Doctor's gaze and stared again at the surging ocean.

"Rose," The Doctor prodded. "Why don't you want to go to the circus? It's the clowns, right? I always thought they were kind of creepy myself. Painted faces and all." He shuddered at the thought.

"No, it's not the clowns." Rose paused for a moment, trying to decide if she felt up to explaining her trepidation to the Doctor. _If I don't tell him now, he'll keep at me until I do._ Rose knew The Doctor and his methods all too well, even in this relatively new form.

"When I was about 7 or 8, my mum took me to the show down in the park. I remember being so excited about it. The animals, the clowns, the magicians, and…" she paused again, "and the acrobats."

"What happened, Rose?"

"There were two blokes in tights that were going to walk the tightrope. The big thing was that they were going to do it without a net. The rope was so high up, and there wasn't a net or nothing." Rose could no longer fight the tears welling in her eyes.

"I remember them falling from the rope. They fell for what seemed like an eternity, and all anyone could do was just sit there and watch. Soon people were screaming and running around in a panic. Mum tried to hide my eyes, but I broke away from her. I had to see what happened. I wish I never had. To this day, I've never set foot in another circus show." Rose began to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Pretty silly, eh?"

The Doctor's face welled with compassion for his traveling companion. "Oh, gods, no Rose! It's not silly at all. I can't imagine how a child could comprehend that kind of tragedy." The Doctor took Rose in his arms, trying to comfort her. "We don't have to go to the show if you don't want."

Rose looked up at him. For some reason, telling the Doctor about her childhood memories gave her a courage inside that she hadn't felt before. Suddenly, she felt like she could face anything again.

"No. You want to see the circus. It's time I faced it and went." Rose stepped back and stood as tall as she could, wiping the rest of the tears from her face.

"Are you sure?" the Doctor asked. "We can still catch _Coronation Street_ if you'd rather." He smirked at his own joke.

A smile slowly came to Rose's face. "Nope. Let's go to the circus."

"Fantastic." The Doctor's smile broadened as he took Rose's hand.

"So, where is this circus?" Rose inquired, since she had yet to see anything that even resembled life on this moon.

"Just over that rise." The Doctor pointed up the beach toward a hill in the distance. They started in that direction. As they slowly came over the hill, Rose became aware of the activity happening on the other side. In the distance, she could make out three striped tents. But these tents were massive, larger than any she had ever seen. Certainly larger than the ones she remembered from her childhood. She guessed they had to be at least twice as tall as the flat of apartments where she had lived with her mum, and those were ten stories tall . All three of the tents together covered enough land for a small city. Ships of every design imaginable were flitting about like flies on an elephant's back. They were still too far away to see if there were actually people around, but Rose assumed there must be quite a few to fill a tent like that.

Suddenly The Doctor stopped. Rose was so amazed by the sight of the tents that she nearly ran into him.

"Why've we stopped?"

The Doctor gestured towards the tents in the distance. "Well, you don't think we're going to walk all that way, do you? The show would be over by the time we got there." The Doctor fumbled in his pockets again and pulled out a silver instrument with a glowing blue light at one end. The sonic screwdriver was the Doctor's Swiss army knife. Rose had seen him use it to do anything from opening doors to detonating explosives to reversing transport beams. He raised the device above his head, pointed it straight up, and turned it on. The light glowed a bright blue, and it emitted a loud electronic warble. After a couple of seconds, the Doctor turned the screwdriver off and put it back in his pocket, obviously satisfied with the effects. Rose gave him a puzzled look.

"Wait for it," he chirped.

Just then, a yellow ship that looked like a saloon without wheels appeared out of nowhere. A gruff looking driver peered out the window at the two of them as the taxi settled softly on the sandy beach.

"S'pose you wan'na go to the circus?" the driver mumbled.

"If it's not too much trouble, yes," the Doctor answered apologetically.

"Fine. In ya go." The back doors of the taxi slid open and the Doctor and Rose climbed in. Almost before Rose could get her feet clear, the doors slid shut, and the driver took off, throwing Rose back into her seat in an awkward position. The Doctor, sitting comfortably beside her, smiled as she righted herself.

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny. Nearly took my feet off." Rose feigned a pout.

"Oh, you're alright. Come on, cheer up! We're headed to the greatest show in the galaxy!"

The Doctor's face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. Rose couldn't help but smile. It was infectious, the Doctor's joviality. His previous incarnation seemed so serious, like the weight of the universe was on his shoulders. _I guess, in many ways, it was. _But this new Doctor was in some ways happier, more convivial. Then, in the same thought, he could be the most serious of people, if the situation demanded it. Whatever she felt for the Doctor before, it seemed even stronger now.

Rose looked out the side window of the cab as they skimmed just above the ground. Ahead, she could see the traffic getting heavier as they came closer to the huge tents. At this point, she became aware that the circus seemed to be set up on the shore of another massive expanse of water. She turned to The Doctor, who was still grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Awful lot of water on this moon."

"Oh, well Kasafraxis Minor is ninety-five percent water. We're actually on an island roughly the size of Cardiff. It's sort of like an interstellar convention centre."

_Just as long as I don't have to listen to anyone trying to sell me interstellar aluminum siding. _Rose smiled to herself.

"'Ere ya go. 'At'll be sixty credits," the driver grumbled as the taxi came to a halt.

The Doctor lowered his eyebrows in concern for a moment, and then reached in his pocket and pulled out a black ID holder. He showed the driver the blank piece of paper on the inside.

"Official delegation of the Shadow Proclamation, section one-one-three-eight," the Doctor said with an air of dignity. He turned and winked at Rose.

The driver stared at the psychic paper. Convinced that it said exactly what the Doctor told him it said, he gave a grunt and opened the doors of the taxi. The Doctor and Rose climbed out, and the taxi started away almost before Rose could clear it. She caught her balance on a nearby post and shouted after the driver.

"Oi! Watch it!" She dusted her jeans off and joined the Doctor at the entrance to one of the colossal tents.

"Isn't it just fantastic?" The Doctor stared up at the tent in amazement as Rose grabbed his arm.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" said Rose, smiling at The Doctor's gleefulness. She wasn't sure that one could actually be "giddy as a schoolgirl" without actually being a schoolgirl until now. That was the only way to describe how The Doctor had been acting ever since the circus came into view. _Maybe this is what happens when the weight of the universe is lifted from your shoulders for an afternoon._

The Doctor looked down at Rose, then led her towards the entrance at a brisk run. Rose became aware of the hustle and bustle of other people coming and going from the circus tent. She looked and saw creatures of all kinds, some alone, others in large groups, still others appeared as families with parents and children. She was sure she caught a glimpse of a school marm leading a group of school children towards the tent when she became aware of a voice that seemed to be talking to her.

"Are they there yet?"

Rose looked around, but couldn't see anyone that appeared to be speaking to her. In fact, in the jumble of conversations around her, she couldn't make out any discernible lines of speech.

"No, not yet. They're just going in."

Rose looked around again, more disturbed this time. Again, there was absolutely no one around that was at all near enough to her to have said anything comprehensible. The Doctor looked over at her.

"What is it?"

Rose thought about it again. _Did I actually hear that?_

"It's..." She thought about it again. "It's nothing." Rose pasted a smile on her face again. "Let's get in there, slow-poke!" She nearly pulled The Doctor off his feet as she raced to the entrance of the tent.


End file.
